UNIVERSAL SHIPBUILDING

Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) confirms it has ordered six high-specification 3,700 dwt PSVs from Universal Shipbuilding Corp in Japan
The vessels will be built at USC's Keihin Shipyard and be delivered progressively from the third quarter of 2014.
The orders follow-on from an order for four 5000 dwt PSVs from USC in late 2011.
Mr Neil Glenn, Managing Director of Swire Pacific Offshore, said: "We are delighted to announce this additional PSV order with USC. "SPO now has 29 vessels on order and will have one of the youngest, most technologically advanced and reliable fleets in the industry - ensuring we are well aligned with the future demands of our customers."
The contract includes options for a further four vessels of this type from Universal Shipbuilding Corporation (USC).

Aveva (LSE:AVV), supplier of engineering IT systems for the plant and marine industries, announced that several Japanese shipbuilders -- Namura Shipbuilding, Universal Shipbuilding Corporation, Shin Kurushima Dockyard, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine & Engineering and Imabari Shipbuilding Group -- have signed contracts worth over $2.5m to extend their use of Aveva marine solutions. The contracts were made in the first half of Aveva’s financial year ending 30 September 2008.

Capital Product Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: CPLP) secured long term fixed rate time charter employment with profit share arrangements for its remaining spot VLCC, the M/T Achilleas. In particular, the M/T Achilleas (297,863 dwt, built 2010 Universal Shipbuilding Corp.) has secured employment with the Partnership's sponsor, Capital Maritime & Trading Corp. ('CMTC') for a maximum charter term of up to 3 years.
It will be earning a gross daily charter rate of $28

At the recent ABS Council meeting in N.Y., 40 prominent members of the shipping and offshore industries were elected as new members of the international classification society. The ABS Council also elected two new members to the society’s Technical Committee.
“ABS governance is vested in a membership comprised of distinguished individuals drawn from the international shipping, shipbuilding and offshore industries, from academia

MAN L27/38 diesel-electric units to power platform supply vessels in major Swire Pacific Offshore contract
Swire has ordered eight IMT-997 platform supply vessels (PSVs), with four to be built by Universal Shipbuilding Corporation in Japan and a further four to be built by EISA Shipyard in Brazil. Each vessel will be equipped with 4 × 6L27/38 MAN gensets, with each unit rated at 1,980 kW at 720 rpm. All generating sets will be constructed by MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Korean licensee

ClassNK, IHI Marine United (IHIMU), Diesel United (DU) and IBM Japan have announced they will jointly develop a ship maintenance management system to help reduce ship lifecycle cost.
The jointly developed system, which will make use of the latest condition monitoring sensor technology and data analysis systems, will be offered by ClassNK as a cloud-based service to shipowners, managers and operators from June 2013.

UMT International launches new AU (Adjustable/Universal) chock system for 2013
The challenge for the yacht owner is to find a safe and secure method to bring on board and effectively stow and secure rigid inflatable boats (RIB), rigid tenders, light weight dinghys and jet-skis.
To meet this challenge UMT introduce for 2013 their new “AU” Adjustable/Universal Chocks. The new design with adjustable mounting bolts allows adjustment of the supports to accommodate the different hull

The Vietnam Shipping Corp. (VINASHIN) grew 46.5 percent last year, reporting a turnover of $ 692 million.
This year, VINASHIN has lined up several large projects including construction of and upgrades to 14 shipyards, the most prominent of which are Song Hong, Ha Long, Nhat Le, and Nghi Son in the north and Dung Quat, Cam Ranh, and Da Nang in the central region.
The state-owned giant plans promotions, training programs, and market expansion in Egypt, Japan

Kollmorgen Corp., Electro-Optical Division, Northampton, Mass., is being awarded a $6,580,913 firm-fixed-price contract for production of eight Universal Modular Mast (UMM) Systems. The UMM provides for development and acquisition of a non-hull penetrating mast that serves as a lifting mechanism for five sensor configurations (the Photonics Mast, the Multi-Function Mast, the Integrated Electronic Mast, the High Data Rate Mast and the Photonics Mast Variant) on Virginia Class and SSGN Class

The Honorable John Anderson, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and the Minister for Transport and Regional Services delivered a Speech in which he discussed the globalization of the maritime shipping industry and cautioned against unilateral maritime security measures, such as pre-screening of cargo, that go beyond the universal measures being developed at the IMO.
Source: HK Law

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has signed a deal for construction of four 20,000 TEU containerships with Samsung Heavy Industries.
MOL also concluded an MOU for long-term chartering of two 20,000 TEU containerships with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, Ltd

OJSC Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) supplied 78,000 metric tons of metal products to shipbuilders in 2014, which represents a 37.2% growth year-on-year.
MMK supplies up to half of all metal products sold to the Russian shipbuilding industry

In the EU journal Parliament, Portuguese Member of European Parliament João Ferreira has proposed a five-point plan to stimulate growth in the EU shipbuilding industry.
He said that after a decline in industrial activity since the 1970s

Malaysia’s MISC Bhd and parent Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) have agreed to build new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers worth US$1.1 billion and charter them to another unit owned by the national oil and gas company for up to 20 years.

Two of Korea's major shipbuilding financiers are creating fiscal risks for the government due to the shipbuilding industry's struggles, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned yesterday.
The report comes just days after Korean shipyards retook the number one spot

The shipping ministry of India had circulated a draft policy note seeking comments from various ministries ahead of its submission to the cabinet. But the finance ministry headed by Arun Jaitley is yet to offer its comments on the note, says a report in the Livemint

Irving Shipbuilding's partnership with Women Unlimited provides community college funding and job opportunities at Halifax Shipyard
Irving Shipbuilding has partnered with Women Unlimited to provide education funding and job opportunities to 20 women who will participate in the welding and

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Limited “Yangzijiang” or “the Group” one of PRC’s leading and most enterprising shipbuilder listed on the SGX Main Board, is pleased to announce that the Group has secured new shipbuilding orders from JHW Engineering &

Singapore-based ASL Marine's profits for the second quarter ended 31 December 2014 dived 78.4% year-on-year to SGD1.432 million (USD1.05 million).
Revenue also plunged 86% year-on-year to SGD47.44m due mainly to a revenue reversal of SGD95m recognized in the previous financial years

Eastern Shipbuilding has donated $250,000 for the construction of the National Coast Guard Museum in New London, Connecticut, the National Coast Guard Museum Association announced yesterday.
Eastern Shipbuilding, a diversified ship builder headquartered in Panama City, Florida

On Friday 6 February 2015, Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd., China, held a steel cutting ceremony for the first of four platform supply vessels of ULSTEIN’s PX121 design being built for Otto Offshore Limited.
The shipbuilding contracts at Wuchang were announced in August

China’s central government anti-corruption team carried out an investigation which determined that the state-backed shipbuilding giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has took part in several corruption activities.

Shipbuilding and repair group Zamakona Yards reports it has once again received the Achilles FPAL Assessment Certificate.
The certificate indicates that industry group Achilles has approved Zamakona following an evaluation of its service in terms of quality, health, safety, environment